CIL:19336, Naegleria fowleri, cell by organism, eukaryotic cell, Eukaryotic Protist, Amoeboid Protist. In Cell Image Library

Naegleria fowleri is a free living amoebae that can be an opportunistic pathogen, and in some cases, has been diagnosed as the causative agent of the usually fatal amebic encephalitis. Other opportunistic pathogens are Balamuthia and Acanthamoeba. Naegleria and Acanthamoeba feed by phagocytosis. Balamuthia feed by inserting the tips of their pseudopodia into cells. Balamuthia and Acanthamoeba, are the linked video group.

The cells were grown in axenic media. Then they were photographed with a Canon Power Shot G3 with a setting at ISO 50 with an optical microlens at 4X and the quality set at RAW. The camera was attached to the phototube of the microscope with a 3X lens and photographed in phase contrast with a 100X oil immersion objective. Live amoebae were placed in a chamber prepared by inverting a coverslip with/or without cultured mammalian cells onto a 3X1 inch microscope slide with a thin rim of Vaseline; melted paraffin was brushed around the edge of the coverslip to seal it to the slide. Such cultures could be maintained for several days at room temperature.